


Things Aren’t What They Used to Be (RAFAEL BARBA)

by RockWithItWriting



Category: Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit RPF
Genre: F/M, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-19
Updated: 2016-07-19
Packaged: 2018-07-25 11:48:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7531612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RockWithItWriting/pseuds/RockWithItWriting
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The moment she steps through the door the hospital stops. They’ve never seen her before but the uniform she’s wearing paired with the face that could kill makes them want to bow to her, listen to every command she barks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Things Aren’t What They Used to Be (RAFAEL BARBA)

##  **Things Aren’t What They Used to Be (Rafael Barba)**

* * *

The moment she steps through the door the hospital stops. They’ve never seen her before but the uniform she’s wearing paired with the face that could kill makes them want to bow to her, listen to every command she barks.

Maybe that’s why they don’t tell her she has to wait for the detective’s to clear out of the room she wants, maybe that’s why the nurse leads her in and doesn’t even apologize to the detectives interviewing the teenager in the hospital bed. Maybe that’s why none of the detectives say anything, either. The power rolls off of her like sweat and nobody, not even Lieutenant Benson, wants to quarrel with her.

The boy looks over, terrified to see his older sister standing in the doorway, “Pilar! You’re supposed to be in Afghanistan!” None of the detectives are surprised. She’s wearing army camo and her uniform is spotless. Not a thing is out of place and her hands are clasped firmly behind her back, as if she is lined up and waiting for orders. She says nothing, only observes the boy in the bed.

“Yes,” She finally speaks, voice low and gritty. It bleeds dominance and Detective Carisi shifts in his seat, unnerved. “I supposed I should be in Afghanistan. But I’m not. I am needed more here.” She looks over Mateo with an emotion that’s unreadable to everyone except the boy.

“I’m fine,” He stresses, never once flinching under her gaze as the detectives do, “I swear. Nothing happened!” Pilar scoffs and slowly steps toward Lieutenant Benson.

“I am Special Agent Lieutenant Pilar Reyes y Calderón. I assume you are Lieutenant Benson of Special Victims Unit?” Mateo, still laying in the bed, looks between the women as they shake hands.

“Wait, you called my sister? That’s how she knew something happened?” He sounds betrayed, but Pilar beats Lieutenant Benson to an answer.

“If Lieutenant Benson would not have called me, Mateo, I suspect I would have heard nothing about the assault until Abuelita finally learned to use a phone.” There’s a twinge of unprofessional snark in her voice, but Lieutenant Benson manages to catch the woman’s attention before it can get too out of control. (Not that she suspects Pilar to get out of control. From the way everything on her person is maintained meticulously, Lieutenant Benson isn’t sure that Pilar can get out of control.)

“You are the legal guardian, correct?”

“I am. But as I’ve been in the desert for the past three years our grandmother has been watching over Mateo.”

“You weren’t supposed to be home until next month! What are you going to do now?” Pilar smiles, the first real emotion that she’s shown in the hospital, as she looks toward Mateo.

“I’m going to find a job and be home more often.” From the way the detectives stifle their snickers, Pilar can tell they’ve heard a lot about her from Mateo. All good things, she hopes, because it was damn hard to retain custody of him in the first place and she doesn’t need protective services on her back again. The detectives are eyeing her, trying to get a read off of the emotionless mask she’s wearing but the only one with any luck is Sergeant Dodds.

Pilar steps back, allowing the detectives to continue on with their questioning, but she stays as straight backed and as severe as the moment she entered the hospital. As Sergeant Dodds observes her, he finds that it is more like she’s a protective detail than an older sister.

Pilar watches as he makes a note to investigate into her past. He’s not a subtle as he may think, but she doesn’t care. There’s nothing there, and if there was? It’s expunged. She isn’t worried about what they’ll find on her- if anything, they’ll barely be able to find her public records. The government took care of that when she was stationed in Afghanistan.

“Agent Reyes?” Sergeant Dodds finally speaks, “I’m Sergeant Mike Dodds.” He stands from his position on the hospitals couch to speak with her, extending a hand. Pilar takes it, nearly smirking when his eyes widen with her grip.

“Pleasure to meet you, Sergeant. I would be more pleased if you would address me as Lieutenant. It’s unwise to flaunt federal agent status when unneeded in Afghanistan, I would assume it’s the same for New York.” Sergeant Dodds is surprised but he nods.

“May I ask what your assignment in Afghanistan was? Three years isn’t the usual tour time.” Pilar nods, her eyes leaving Sergeant Dodds for only a moment, checking on Mateo before her full attention is back on the conversation. “It’s also odd to be a special agent and a lieutenant.”

“It’s also odd to be the head of a federal sex crimes unit at such a young age, is it not?” Pilar allows herself to smirk then, but easily falls back into the mask she was wearing moments prior, “I was in the Army when they decided that a sex crimes unit was needed at the federal level. I spent six months in the states and then I was transferred to Iraq, where I was made Lieutenant of my unit. From there I was moved to Afghanistan.” Sergeant Dodds nods, writing it all down. If Pilar is correct, and normally she is, he seems impressed. She takes a moment to ruffle her feathers, feel pride in her stomach, before Lieutenant turns to her.

“Impressive, Lieutenant.” She writes something down in her notepad- Pilar isn’t sure why they’re all using notepads instead of voice recorders like she used- before turning back to Mateo, “We’ll be back in the morning to check on you. Would you like one of the detectives to stay as a protective detail?”

Pilar steps forward, holding a hand up, “With all due respect, Lieutenant, I will be all Mateo needs for the night.” Detective Carisi snickers under his breath and tries to stifle it when both of the Lieutenants in the room take a moment to glare at him.

“Yes, of course,” Lieutenant Benson nods, shaking Pilar’s hand before gesturing for her detectives to leave. They all file out the door and Pilar doesn’t give them a second thought. She lets her body collapse, reaching up to toss her cap off her head and undo her tight bun, bringing some relief to the stress headache she had been ignoring since she boarded the carrier in the hot desert sun.

“Mateo, what happened?” Pilar collapses into the chair next to his bed and clasps one of his hands in hers, “Lo siento, mi vida,” She breathes, pressing her forehead to his knuckles before he can speak.

“I’m fine, Pilar, really,” He insists, “I just got jumped on my way home from school.” Bit Pilar knows that’s a lie as she presses a kiss to his hand.

“I know that’s a lie,” She whispers, “Lieutenant Benson is the head of Manhattan’s Special Victims Unit. They’re a sex crimes unit. I’m not stupid, Mateo.” She looks into his eyes, lighter than hers like everything about him, and she can see him fighting off tears, “That’s all I was told. To come home, be with you. That you needed me. That’s all Lieutenant could legally tell me.” He sniffs and takes his hand back from his sister.

“I’m tired,” Mateo says, and Pilar sighs, knowing what he’s going to say and do next, “Please, go get me some water? I might be asleep when you come back.” She stands and redoes her hair, replacing her cap, readying herself to find Mateo’s doctor.

She was surprised to see a detective outside of Mateo’s room, scribbling away in his notepad. “Detective,” Pilar says, tone icy as she looks down on him, “I don’t take kindly to someone waiting outside a doorway for me. You can imagine why.” He starts and nearly slaps Pilar in the face trying to eagerly stick his hand out for her to shake.

“Detective Carisi. Lieu wanted me to stay and make sure you guys were all right tonight.” He flinches when his knuckles pop as Pilar shakes his hand, muscles in her arm flexing with dominance and anger.

“Pleasure.” She says, though she doesn’t really mean it, “Then you can fetch my brother a cool glass of water while I locate his doctor.” She isn’t sure what the look on Detective Carisi’s face is but she’s sure it’s something akin to shock.

“Right. Yeah, okay,” And he brushes past her quickly, muttering under her breath. It doesn’t phase her, though, because she’s used to being targeted, being scorned and spit at. A detective muttering in distain under his breath is nothing to her.

She locates the doctor quickly, cornering him in the elevator as he attempts to flee her heavy feet. “What can I do for you ma’am?” He seems nervous as the doors shut and he’s stuck with Pilar.

“I’m Special Agent Pilar Reyes y Calderón,” She says cooly, shaking his hand, “Mateo Reyes y Calderón’s legal guardian.” She knows his heart is beating faster when she uses special agent instead of lieutenant because of the outfit and the connections to the federal government. “I was in Afghanistan when he was admitted and, unfortunately, I was not informed of what truly happened to him. Mateo is, unfortunately, a teenage boy and averse to telling his older sister what happened.” The doctor is shaking and Pilar almost feels bad. Almost. “Since you’re his doctor and legally bound to tell me, I would like you to do just that. I’ll even forget that you tried to run away from me when you saw me approaching.”

“Forgive me for that,” The doctor said, “Usually when someone in a military uniform is approaching rapidly, it means something bad is on the horizon.”

They passed another floor and Pilar cocked an eyebrow, “Speak faster, doctor, my brother is alone with a stranger and I’d rather be at his side than here.”

The man nods and flips through the papers in his hands. Pilar knows the way she’s standing at his side, staring at the elevator doors, is unnerving him. But she doesn’t want to be away from Mateo’s side for too long, so intimidation must work.

“Mateo was attacked on his way home from school, taken into an alley, beaten and raped. He’s got lacerations on his lower stomach from being held at knife point and internal bruising, but nothing too major. He should be just fine in a couple of days.”

“Right,” Pilar drawls, hands fisted behind her back like she was accustomed to standing, “Besides the mental anguish he’s currently going through. Thank you, doctor.” To cap off her irritation she claps the man once on the shoulder and steps out of the elevator before the doors are even fully opened.

Before they shut, she can hear the doctors apologies, “I’m sorry, Agent Reyes y Calderón,” And she scoffs, heading for the stairs to be at Mateo’s side once more.She took the steps three at a time on the way down, ready to sleep even though it was barely six in the afternoon.

Pilar, as horrifying as it is, can feel the relief stemming from the fact that Mateo was knocked out and sleeping until just a few hours before she arrived. Hit so hard, he had a seizure and she knew it was bad to be thankful, but that day had allowed her to gather her stuff and get home. When Pilar exited the stairwell she watched as a body disappeared into her brother’s room. Similar height and build to Detective Carisi she doesn’t think much of it until the detective himself comes around the corner, three water bottles in hand.

Everything in Pilar lights up as she jumps into action mode, drawing her weapon from it’s holster on her lower back. Detective Carisi’s eyebrows jump up on his fact but Pilar doesn’t care.

She holds one finger to her lips as she approaches the door and then, when her body is tense and ready to jump around the frame, the sounds of a struggle filter through the curtain drawn around Mateo’s bed. She holds her breath, readying her weapon to fire as Detective Carisi puts the water down, drawing his own weapon. It seems as if he’s going to follow her lead, which is smart. She is the higher rank and the federal agent.

Pilar swings her body around the doorway, ending up close enough to rip the curtain back. She finds the stranger’s chest in her sights, voice booming from her chest, “Federal Agent, drop your weapon and step away from the boy!” She does not shake, nor does her gun stray from where the man’s heart is beating below his skin.

The man, barely so, whips around with a scalpel in one hand and a gun clasped in the other. He slowly turns his gun on Mateo and puts his finger on the trigger.

“Tell your lackey to back off. I don’t need two goons to deal with,” He snarls. Pilar can smell the whiskey from her position. She wonders, briefly, what would happen if she put a bullet in his chest in this very moment.

“Carisi,” Pilar barks, “Leave the room. Close the door.” He does as he’s told and, again, Pilar is wondering what would happen if she shoots the man straddling her very much unconscious brother. “I assume you’re the man who violated my brother?” She asks coolly, head tilting in an agonizing manner. The man is small, but not short. Skinny. Sick.

Addicted.

“Yeah,” He grunts, “That’s me. Came to finish the job. Some old fuck called the pigs before I could.” Tension ripples through Pilar’s body, but he doesn’t notice. She barely notices the anger, anymore.

“Well, sir, I’m going to have to ask you to get off the boy. Unless you want to eat my bullet.” Lights begin flashing from the window and Pilar curses being on the second floor of the hospital, “You didn’t think sending the detective outside would keep him from alerting the police, did you? You must be more empty-headed than I previously thought.” The man does swing his legs off of Mateo, who’s bleeding from a cut on his forehead, but instead of surrendering the man takes his chances and sprints towards Pilar.

She’s not stupid. She knows what he’s trying to do. Suicide by federal agent, apparently. But she’s killed too many people over the years to justify shooting the man after he’s dropped his gun and is just brandishing a scalpel. Pilar drops her gun, herself, instead kicking the scalpel out of his hands. He recoils and she takes that moment to punch him in the chest and land another kick to the back of his knee.

Pilar spins, pushing him to the floor by his shoulders as she puts her full weight on the knee pressed into his lower back. She pulls his wrists tightly into one hand, calling out for Detective Carisi to come back into the room and assist.

He throws open the door, gun drawn, accompanied by his Lieutenant and Sergeant. They scan the room quickly, finding Pilar on the floor with the groaning man. She’s panting, barely a hair out of place, and if she could reach her gun she would shoot him. But she can’t.

She wants to take Mateo and go home, curling up with her brother like they used to when he was little, when everything was good. When nothing hurt. Pilar let Detective Carisi take the man and cuff him, read him his rights, and she said nothing. Sitting down next to Mateo, Pilar takes her cap off for the second time in the day. She leans her elbows on her knees and tries not to cry, to tremble. A hand is on her shoulder, drawing her attention to a new man.

He is the same as her. Reeked power, dominance. He seems as if he owns the world and she knew that she doesn’t look like that, not with her trembling hands and the lost look on her face. Either way, Pilar stands, exhausted from switching in and out of Pilar and Special Agent Lieutenant Pilar Reyes y Calderón and in a flash, as her cap is replaced and she squares her shoulders her personality is almost as large as the new man’s.

“I’m Rafael Barba,” He says, hand still on her shoulder, “I was in the car with Sergeant Dodds when we received the call.”

“My apologies, sir,” Pilar says, moving back so smoothly he barely recognizes the fact that she’s shaking his hand off of her. She shakes his hand and introduces herself, “I’m Special Agent Lieutenant Pilar Reyes y Calderón, Mateo’s guardian.” He nods, as if he already knows.

“Es un placer conocerte,” Pilar can tell that he’s testing out the waters, wondering if she actually speaks Spanish or not.

“¿Debería hacer referencia a que formal o informal?” She asks, still stoic in the presence of a new man who’s posture and haughtiness rivals her own. She’s glad for the distraction of him in the chaos that is Mateo’s hotel room. Doctors are milling about, checking on him, and the detectives are interrogating anyone who was on the floor at the time the man snick in.

Rafael smiles with her question, hands in his pockets, “Whichever tickles your fancy, Lieutenant,” He says, “I’m the ADA that will be working your brother’s case. I thought it was going to be harder but it seems as if he admitted to everything.”

“Sneaking into a hospital room doesn’t scream innocent, now does it, sir?” It’s a joke, but not phrased that way. Pilar doesn’t smile when she says it, nor does she laugh after, but Rafael does. He smiles, actually smiles, and laughs, which causes all of the NYPD in the room to stutter in their movements.

Pilar wonders if it’s the for the same reason that people on the street ask her if she’s okay, or if her brother cracks jokes in an effort to get her laugh over video chat. She assumes it’s only going to get worse after his attack. Mateo always uses jokes and humor to cover his pain the same way that Pilar used to.

“No,” Rafael says, nodding as he looks over Pilar. She’s too stressed, too taut, and she can see that he wants to figure out why but she’s going to be damned if he does, “I suppose it doesn’t, Lieutenant Reyes.”

* * *

_why do i keep creating characters and why do they all have little siblings_


End file.
